The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves in every facet of the game on Tuesday night, cruising to a 9-0 victory to earn a series win at Dodger Stadium.
The offense got going early, scoring three runs in the first inning off Braves starter Max Fried. Justin Turner put the Dodgers on the board with his second home run of the season, and he was just getting started.
Later in the inning, Max Muncy hit an infield single that scored two more runs thanks to outstanding hustle by Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor.
Turner picked things up again in the bottom of the second inning with a two-out single up the middle to score Alex Verdugo, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0.
The scoring slowed down from there until Turner got back up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. He proceeded to launch his second home run of the night, this time to straightaway center field.
Turner still was not done there though. He came up in the bottom of the eighth inning and launched a three-run shot to left field. In the first six weeks of the season, Turner hit just one home run. He quadrupled that total with a trio of long balls in Tuesday night’s win.
Furthermore, the three-home run game was the first of Turner’s career and his six RBI are also the most he’s ever had.
As crazy as it may sound, Turner may not have been the Dodgers’ most valuable player on the night as starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was unhittable on the mound.
Ryu carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, and while he was not able to complete that, he did finish out his first complete-game shutout since 2013.
The left-hander had Braves hitters off-balanced all night, allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out six. He needed just 93 pitches to complete the victory — earning a ‘Maddux’ — and giving the Dodgers bullpen much-needed rest.
